China’s national anthem now has a new official sign language version

Just in time for the start of a new school term, the government has announced a new official sign language version of the national anthem, theMarch of the Volunteers.

In China, sign language varies from region to region, and deaf people from each region may possess their own dialects, slangs, accents and vocabularies.

An ambitious move to standardize Chinese Sign Language with a vocabulary understood by deaf people across the country was embarked upon in 2011.

A 7-year-long nationwide research culminated in a Lexicon of Common Expressions in Chinese National Sign Language that was published in May this year and is now being tested at deaf institutions throughout the country.